ARToday, Nominet have launched the new Children’s Online Safety Programme which aims to equip young people with the skills to help them navigate the challenges posed by being online. Part of this programme will focus on improving the safety of young internet users through programmes in schools. Project Evolve is one of the programmes that Nominet are helping to support through funding along with the Digital Leaders Plus programme with Childnet. This partnership will cement the ongoing support for children’s online safety for many years to come.
Ellie Bradley, MD Registry & Public Benefit at Nominet says:
We strongly believe that finances should never be a barrier to learning about online safety. 59% of 11 to 12 year-olds are on social media, and over one in three internet users is a child. High levels of usage do not necessarily translate to high levels of skill or capability in using online platforms safely though, and that’s where our support can help established and credible programmes to amplify and broaden their reach with existing, high-quality resources with proven social impact. What’s key is that our partnerships in this space avoid further crowding of the online safety environment with new resources, and that we enable more children to access high quality guidance from trusted sources.
Project Evolve has offered education professionals a free digital literacy hub with essential resources for online learning. Not only does it cover all aspects of digital skills for young people, tackling topics such as Online Relationships and identity, it is also jam packed with activities and outcomes for all young people aged 3-18.
This partnership will continue to develop Project Evolve with new and exciting materials for the future. The digital tool is also being broadened to more and more schools throughout the UK. With such an active user base, it is so reassuring that more and more schools will be able to see what benefit it can bring to their community.
Ken Corish, Project Lead for ProjectEvolve at SWGfL says:
We hope to improve the overall baseline for online safety in the UK – by working through schools and evolving age appropriate resources we are helping ‘all boats rise’ in this area. Nominet’s funding to complete the remaining four content strands for Project Evolve, write modules and develop the assessment mechanism for teachers will help us achieve this and create tangible positive change for the programme and those who use it.
